


Hunter x Hunter – Chrollo Origin Story

by LuciferZ



Category: Hunter X Hunter
Genre: Canon Related, Character Study, Emotional/Psychological Abuse, Human Trafficking, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, Psychological
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-01
Updated: 2020-01-01
Packaged: 2021-02-27 15:20:14
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,665
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22069156
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LuciferZ/pseuds/LuciferZ
Summary: Humans were puppets, controlled by their circumstances.He was a monster, living to his heart’s desires.He weaved the strings of his own life like a god –-	And lived it like the devil.A Chrollo Lucilfer Origin Story.
Comments: 11
Kudos: 16





	Hunter x Hunter – Chrollo Origin Story

“Take him!”

A woman screamed, shoving the child forth away from her.

“I don’t want him anyway, he has the mark of the devil!”

* * *

“Stand back.”

He’d said to the two big men approaching him and his friend.

“Two kids…wandering into our territory.”

His friend cowered behind him as they snickered.

“…We’re sorry, we got lost. We’ll leave now.”

He’d said with as much calm as he could muster, backing away.

But the man grabbed him by his ragged shirt, pulling him up.

“Hoh? This one’s got a pretty face.”

“A girl?”

“Reaaallly pretty…”

“I’m a boy.”

He’d said.

And then they laughed and pulled open his pants.

“Woah, it’s really a boy!”

“Well some of them like boys…”

He didn’t know what they were talking about, but he started and swatted their hands.

“W-What are you doing?! Let me go!”

Their grins seemed to grow wider.

“He’s a feisty one…”

In panic, he’d looked back to his friend, and froze.

“Oh? Looks like your friend left you…”

They said, laughing as he saw the boy he thought was his friend running away from the scene.

And then he was gone.

“But you know, the pretty kid has a weird mark on his forehead…”

One of them leaned in closer.

He took the opportunity to kick him in the face.

“Argh -?!”

He was dropped in surprise and he ran as fast as he could.

“What are you doing?!”

His mother screamed at him when he entered the house, eyes wide.

There was a ruckus outside.

He slammed the door shut, locking it and fumbled.

“…I’m sorry, I wandered into the wrong place, I –“

The flimsy door broke down.

The woman screamed and the child flinched as the man came lumbering in.

“Give us the kid, woman.”

The man grinned.

“With those pretty features, he’ll be a treasure on the black market.”

“Stay away…”

He’d pulled out his little penknife, but faltered when the man pulled out a large knife.

The woman shrieked.

“Take him!”

She screamed, shoving the child forth away from her.

He stumbled in surprise, falling onto the ground in shock.

The penknife slipped from his hand, crushed under the shoe of one of the men.

“I don’t want him anyway, he has the mark of the devil!”

She said then retreated in fear.

“Just don’t hurt me! Take him and leave!”

He laid still on the ground.

Slowly he turned to look at the woman.

“It’s your fault! I never wanted you anyway! You should never have been –“

There was a loud sound, and her mouth fell open, her eyes wide in disbelief.

“Oi oi, we were going to buy him from you but on second thoughts, your noise is hurting my ears.”

The man who had fired the gun said.

Blood pooled out on the floor as a result of the quick crime.

He couldn’t move.

Laughter rang in his ears and he was picked up by one of the men.

“Don’t worry pretty boy, you’ll enjoy your new home.”

The others cackled around him and one of them said.

“You’ll be worth a lot of money…”

And then his vision went black.

* * *

“Poor kid…”

“His mother sold him for money…”

_Where am I…?_

He opened his eyes to not the burly men but a bunch of women surrounding him.

“Ah, are you awake?”

He backtracked immediately, holding up his arms defensively.

He said nothing and glared.

“Explain.”

The women looked at each other, he could tell they were hiding something.

“What happened after I was kidnapped by those men?”

They looked at each other with surprised looks.

“Kidnapped? No, you were sold.”

“The seller said your mother sold you to them for money.”

“Wait, what are you telling a kid?!”

He narrowed his eyes.

Then he moved past them to the door.

“Ah, wait!”

The women blocked his way and he stared.

“Get out of my way. I don’t want to hurt women without reason.”

He was slightly annoyed when they giggled at him.

“Oh, a little gentleman!”

“It really is such a pity…”

He didn’t know what they were talking about, so he sidestepped them and headed for the door –

\- Which opened, and another woman blocked his way.

“I would suggest not.”

She seemed to be older and calmer than the rest.

“The streets here are dangerous. You wouldn’t be able to survive.”

She said placidly, looking down at him.

“You seem to be a smart kid. You have a pretty face, don’t waste it.”

  
“My life doesn’t matter to me.”

He stated, hands in his pockets and moved to move past when the woman spoke again.

“You can become valuable here.”

“…”

“A mother who didn’t want you, or at least that was what we were told. I paid a hefty price for you. I will not let you leave.”

He paused, then moved his gaze away.

“They made a mistake. I’m not so valuable to be kept. If a pretty face is all you want, go find a woman.”

He shrugged and moved but she wouldn’t let him move past the door.

“Your life has value to me…monetary value.”

“I don’t care about money.”

He said emotionlessly.

“If you’re trying to manipulate me, forget about it. I see through adults and their lies.”

He said and raised his dark gaze.

“Move out of my way.”

“…I never thought I would have to use this on a kid.”

The woman smirked and the feeling around her seemed to change.

“…!”

_What is this…?_

_The atmosphere around her feels different._

He took steps back, staring warily.

She eyed him.

“Not bad. You are still standing. You have a strong will…perfect for my place.”

And then she spoke like a command.

“You will not be able to leave this place.”

He started as something ran through his body, and he had to stumble to stand.

“I love finding strong people and making them slaves to pleasure. Recently, the men have been requesting for strong kids. You’re the first.”

The woman said as a sinister smile curled her lips.

“After all, men love to dominate and put others beneath them. Some women as well. Mostly men…what better business than a brothel which offers strong people to customers?”

And then her tone of voice changed as she spoke to the three women.

“Tell him your backgrounds.”

“Yes.”

They answered with some fear, then obeyed.

He noticed they were dressed in loose clothing, and their gazes were docile.

“I was a sniper in the military. I was in the ranks of the elite. I never missed a target…”

“I’m a fighter. I reached the 190th floor of Heaven’s Arena before losing to her…”

“I’m…a Hunter…”

The third woman trailed off.

The woman nodded then turned back to him.

“So? Do you think you are stronger than them…boy?”

Then she moved aside, saying tauntingly.

“Try to leave.”

He eyed her coldly and took the challenge, stepping through the door –

\- But stopped when his foot touched the threshold.

Like a safety mechanism, he immediately drew his foot back, eyes wide.

_I can’t leave._

_It’s impossible for me to leave._

_What power is this…?_

His foot refused to move one inch, and he could only stare at the nightlife outside.

He took another breath, and a few steps back then dashed forward.

His feet again stopped against his will.

“…Argh -!”

His fist met the ground in frustration, as he gritted his teeth.

The woman took the opportunity to speak.

“Do you see now? You look like you’ve had some fighting experience, but it’s impossible for you to leave. Not until your will overcomes mine.”

She said as she looked down at him then closed the door and turned away.

“…But well, you’ll be broken by then…..”

She laughed as if to herself and walked away.

“Don’t worry, boy. You will be very wanted here…”

She roamed his gaze down his trembling body and into his defiant eyes.

“…Like a treasure.”

* * *

It’s impossible. No one has been able to leave this place except the customers and the owner.”

One of the women came forth to tell him after he finally gave up on trying to leave.

He stared at the ground, before whispering blankly.

“What exactly do you sell…?”

There was silence.

He pushed forward.

“Do you let people beat you up or something…?”

“No…”

  
One of the women hesitantly said, the one who had said she was a hunter.

“We can’t tell you…if not we’ll be punished.”

"..."

He was silent, before he spoke with a wry smirk.

“Confined into a place like this…wouldn’t you rather just die…?”

A deathly silence.

Then one of them responded.

“Do you think that lowly of human life…?”

“…”

The kid who would become a criminal in the future kept silent.

“I’ve been on the battlefield and seen countless deaths…it’s not a pretty thing. You’re still just a child. Even if your mother didn’t want you…you were still born. At least you’re alive.”

The sniper woman said.

Then she inhaled and continued.

“I don’t think you know what you’re talking about…when you speak of death.”

He remained silent, his eyes dark.

Then the voice he recognized as the fighter woman’s, spoke.

“It is not so bad here…we stick together…”

She said and the sniper woman added.

“Even if we have to serve disgusting men, we are in the same predicament so it’s like we’re a family.”

“Or friends…!”

The hunter woman concluded.

“Hmph…Friend? My only friend ran away when he saw I was in trouble. When I was protecting him. I don’t need friends.”

He stated as he straightened, and walked past the women, his hands in his pockets.

“And…”

His dark gaze grew shaded as he moved forward.

“…I’ve never had a family.”

* * *

“Don’t resist.”

Was the advice they gave him when it came to his first customer.

“Make him feel welcome.”

“You’re a kid, so maybe he’ll go easy on you…” 

“The first time is the worst. After that, you’ll learn and it’ll get better…”

He’d fought, but had been no match for the man with a muscular physique and greedy look in his eyes.

“Oh? You have some spunk, kid.”

A blow to his stomach sent him flying towards the bed, hitting the headboard with a cry.

“Is this your first customer? I didn’t expect a boy, but you have a pretty face…”

He grimaced as the man’s hand grabbed his chin.

The man licked his lips.

“That expression of pain and defiance…oh, I enjoy ripping the defiant ones apart.”

The man said and ripped open his shirt, looking down at his wide eyes with a grin.

He laughed when the boy flung his hands out, and let him hit him in the face before grabbing the small hands and smirking.

“Try to resist, it’ll only make me more aroused.”

* * *

“What are you doing…?”  
  


“NO - !”

“Stop….…it hurts -!”

Again and again.

Repeatedly.

A different man every time.

The same face sometimes.

That was how he had been taught the world worked.

One mistake and his whole life had been stolen away from him, his family dead.

A treasure, they called him, but poured dirt into him.

A treasure in the trade.

But it was no trade.

Only a one-sided expulsion of the ugliness of human beings.

And slowly the light in his eyes faded.

He would have been better off dead.

But the one who ended up dead was not him, but one of the men.

* * *

He’d made a plan.

After the suffering of the first several sexual sessions, he came back to his senses.

He built a reputation around himself that made his customers let their guard down.

He had been observing the world since he was old enough to be conscious.

The dynamics of power.

The greed for money.

The pursuit of information.

_**Humans are like puppets.** _

The woman who had caved at the threat of harm and sold a child to the sex trade.

The men who had been lured by the offer of an exorbitant amount of money in the sex trade.

The boy who had run, controlled by his fear, leaving behind his friend to bad men.

The brothel owner who seemed to have some obsession with breaking strong people.

The women who had been strong but had grown weak, prevented from escaping from the brothel.

The men who sought their pleasure in breaking strong people into helpless slaves to carnal pleasure.

Humans reacted to what was around them, letting their circumstances shape them.

They let their emotions control them, led along by their feelings without even knowing.

And they would betray even things dear to them for their own selfish selves.

He didn’t.

He was a monster.

And so he would be the puppet master.

He would not let himself be affected by his circumstances.

Circumstances that would break any normal human.

For he was his own person.

_This is probably what she had expected would break me._

He’d thought after several men had used his body for their own selfish pleasure.

_“He’s broken.”_

_“It was too early for him…”_

_“Exactly as the owner planned.”_

Like he was a character in the books he had read, he detached himself from the situation.

He listened impassively to the things the humans said about him.

They thought he was broken.

A reasonable conclusion.

Any normal child would have been.

But he was not normal.

He’d isolated himself, refused to eat, walked around in a daze.

Fought and resisted and cried every time he was forcefully taken.

But like the woman had said, with more times forced upon him, it did get easier.

He learned to charm and sweet talk the men.

He learned to act like an innocent child who would appeal to perverted men.

_“You’re so strong…I can’t resist. Be gentle okay?”_

_“Wouldn’t you rather do it in my mouth…?”_

And he lied to the women.

He came to their quarters with a desolate expression on his face he knew was pretty to them.

_“I’ve given up. I won’t try to escape anymore. In turn, can you teach me tricks so the customers will be gentler with me? It really…hurt…”_

He’d brought tears to his eyes he himself didn’t even know were real or fake.

And as he predicted, the women simpered over him, the fragile child whose strong spirit had been broken by the merciless adult world.

_“Yes of course! The trick is, to seduce the men…”_

_“…offer another avenue of pleasure! You don’t have to be penetrated if you know how…”_

_“Distract them by talking, charm them with your pretty looks and they’ll fall easily…”_

They started talking at once, and outwardly he bit his lip and listened.

While inwardly he kept his mind calm.

_So there are many methods._

_I just have to experiment and find the method that works._

_If I can convince the men to not penetrate me, things will become easier for me._

_I can have more time and energy to think of how to escape this place…_

His lips quirked.

_And I could get some useful information as well._

* * *

He changed his personality to the extent the owner let her guard down.

Thinking he had given up on escaping and chosen to integrate himself into the brothel.

“Finally given up?”

The brothel owner asked him one day.

She had probably noticed that he had stopped his ritual of trying to go through the door.

He looked at the door he couldn’t go through and turned his face away.

“You’re right. It’s better to stay here where it’s safe…I might not survive out there. The customers themselves seem dangerous and strong…I don’t want to die.”

He clutched his arm and allowed his body to tremble a bit, recalling his first traumatic sexual session so his behaviour would not be false.

“And the women are nice. Nicer than my mother was………”

The owner looked at him and said.

“Wise choice. If it’s any comfort, if you had not been captured and sold, you would have made a formidable man when grown.”

“Really…?”

He allowed his eyes to widen and spoke in a fragile voice.

“Yeah. This is the first time the customers and the prostitutes have taken so quickly to a newcomer. You have charm, boy. While you wouldn’t be able to survive on that alone, it can get you to places.”

“And with that will you had when you first came…you could become a fighter unbeatable by many if you wished.”

The owner said then smirked as if to herself.

“Well, it’s still not strong enough to beat me though.”

She said and walked uncaringly away.

“Your next customer is in one hour’s time. Go and get ready. He’s a rich man.”

But her words sparked something in his mind.

_Not strong enough to beat her._

_“Do you see now? You look like you’ve had some fighting experience, but it’s impossible for you to leave. Not until your will overcomes mine.”_

He blinked, eyes widening slightly for real.

_So whatever trick she’s using to prevent people except the customers from leaving…_

_…is related to the power of will._

He mused, and turned around and walked away from the door.

_Somehow, I need to increase my willpower._

_Even if it’s some secret technique, to have an effect until now…_

_…must mean it has to do with the mind?_

He thought back to the time when he had first arrived and tried to leave.

* * *

“You will not be able to leave this place.”

He started as something ran through his body, and he had to stumble to stand.

* * *

_That time. I felt like I had been hit by some force._

_I thought it was the mental shock…_

_But, what if I really had been hit by some force? An invisible force?_

_A force derived from one’s willpower…_

_…What if…_

_It had some condition?_

_It could be…some power which uses words to control a person._

_Twice she mentioned my will wasn’t strong enough_

_So…if my will becomes strong enough…to overcome hers in that power she used_

_I’ll be released from her control and be able to leave._

He mused silently.

_All along I thought she had done something to the door, so I tried and tried…thinking I could get through whatever it was if I tried hard enough._

_But if it’s to do with the mind and strength of will…then if I become strong enough…_

_…I can break the effect of her mind control._

His black eyes set blankly on the door he couldn’t pass.

_But…_

He closed his eyes, bringing an image of the world beyond the door.

Where he wanted to live.

_…how long will it take…?_

* * *

He wanted it.

The freedom to live life on his own terms.

Never confined to a place.

He wanted to see what the outside world had to offer him.

Where he could explore and unravel the mystery that was himself.

He wanted to be able to do anything he wanted.

Untied to any rules and obligations.

No one would help him.

Just like his friend who he had made outside of his hellish home had abandoned him.

Just like his parent had no hesitation in giving him up to save her own life.

People only cared about themselves and their own well-being.

The other prostitutes had already resigned themselves to being in the brothel for the rest of their lives.

They coped by helping each other and communing, calling themselves a ‘family’.

They were nice, but being nice wouldn’t help him in his goal.

He didn’t trust them, so he kept his plans secret to himself.

And like a kid playing with figurines he never had –

  * He concocted a plan.



The brothel owner with her overconfidence.

The men from the underworld blinded by their lustful desires.

The women who had been captured who gathered together, wanting to feel like a family.

He observed the different pieces with the eye of a watcher.

Watching and studying the behaviour of the different pawns in the game.

The weapons they had.

Their mental states.

The resources he could take.

And anything he could take advantage of.

His own life had been stolen away from him, and he would steal others’ lives in return.

It was not revenge.

He did not feel any resentment against his captors.

They were just pieces in a game moved by a divine hand.

Controlled by circumstances out of their control.

It was merely fair game.

Stealing others’ lives

  * So he could live his own life.



And so he waited, and watched –

\- Tying the strings behind the scenes into a web like a spider waiting for its prey.

* * *

And then the day came.

The timing was perfect, with all the pieces in place.

And so, he carried out his act.

* * *

“What’s that?”

He’d asked curiously of the thing that had stolen his life away from him.

“Oh that? Little kids shouldn’t touch dangerous stuff…”

The man who was some kind of gangster grinned in the aftermath of extracting pleasure from the boy.

“I want to see. Please?”

He’d said, having observed it was the timing when the ‘customer’ would let their guard down.

He’d batted his long eyelashes and gave his most innocent look.

The man faltered, then laughed.

“Well sure, not like a kid could do harm with it.”

He’d spread a smile across his face and moved to grab it from the dresser.

“What’s it called?”

He’d asked with the curiosity of a child.

“A gun.”

The man had replied casually, laying back as he let the kid fumble with the gun like it was a toy.

“How does it work?”

“It’s not a toy, kid. I’d put it down if I were you. You might hurt yourself and it would be a waste on a pretty body…”

_Click._

The man froze.

The kid’s shining eyes had turned blank as he held the gun in his hand.

Pointed straight at him.

“I ceased being a kid the moment I had my first customer.”

He’d spoken with the intelligence he had hidden after he had been sold into the sex trade.

“Wait…”

“I’ve seen this used before. To kill my family. Who didn’t even want me.”

“We can…”

The man stuttered, terror in his eyes as the innocent child suddenly had the look of a murderer.

“This is the type that won’t make a sound right?”

He said from his experience studying the weapons of his customers and inquiry.

And then he pulled the trigger without hesitation.

Blood splattered all over the walls.

He made his first kill of countless others.

* * *

He’d practiced moving stealthily so he wouldn’t be noticed.

He had used the women in the brothel as his subjects, and sometimes the male customers.

He determined he was proficient enough when he could surprise the customers from the underworld and mafia with his presence.

He looked back at the man’s lifeless corpse, at the puppet with its strings cut.

Then he hid the gun in his pocket and slipped out of the room.

He closed the door after locking it from the inside.

It would not do for anyone to discover the dead body.

He looked at the clock.

It was 3.30PM.

The owner would be back in half an hour’s time.

He didn’t know where she had gone, but it was her ritual.

Every Thursday she would leave the brothel in the morning at 9AM and come back only at 4PM in the afternoon.

And then she would head straight to the kitchen to drink the tea a girl had made for her.

He went to the kitchen to do his work.

“Can I make the tea today?”

He spoke, watching as the woman started, turning around to face him.

“Oh! You scared me.”

The hunter woman said, before she realized.

“Wait, don’t you have a customer today?”

The black haired boy blinked his dark eyes and said innocently.

“Yes and he’s sleeping peacefully now.”

_Well, sleeping peacefully in death._

His lips quirked, his thoughts unknown to the woman who gasped.

“So fast? You’re getting really good with the customers.”

  
He let a grin play across his lips.

“Right? It’s all thanks to you lovely ladies. For teaching me tricks in the trade.”

He gave a wink and watched in amusement as she flushed.

“Oh, you little charmer! You’ll grow up to be a fine man who’ll charm all the ladies.”

He blinked as she laughed and patted his head.

Temporarily forgetting their situation of being captives.

He would have thought the action was like that of an older sister –

\- If he had known what having an older sister was like.

_Will I?_

He wondered idly as if he was already in the outside world.

He allowed a giggle to slip past his lips and smiled playfully.

“I can do it right? I can make the owner’s tea right?! I’ve been practicing! You watched me.”

And then he pouted and looked cute, appealing to the female’s maternal instincts.

“Please?”

He asked, tugging at a lock of his silky black hair and curling it around his finger like he had seen some girls do to charm the customers, giving off an aura of innocence.

Girl A, or at least that was what the owner called her, faltered.

“...Okay, but I can’t tell the owner you made the tea alright? Only long-time girls can make her tea.”

“We won’t be caught if you don’t tell!”

He held a finger to his lips with a cunning smile.

The hunter woman put her hands on her hips and sighed with a fond smile.

“Well fine…but you owe me for this, boy!”

She held up a finger as she said casually, and his smile widened as he visualized his plan.

“Don’t worry! I’ll pay back this favour in full.”

* * *

And like clockwork, the owner came back at 4PM sharp.

He waited, hiding his presence and watching silently as she entered the kitchen and drank her tea.

And then he slipped inside the kitchen, as silent as a shadow.

“Release your mind control.”

He saw her give a rare surprised expression, before her features reverted back to her usual face.

“...So you figured it out.”

He shoved a hand into his pocket, the other hidden behind his back.

He remained unperturbed by her stare as he stepped forward, speaking with detachment.

“Yeah. Your trick isn’t with the door, but the human’s mind.”

She raised an eyebrow at his description, but said tauntingly.

“And what are you going to do? You have no power against me. You’re just a harmless boy. Smart enough to figure it out but without power to do something about it.”

The brothel owner said and drank her tea, smirking.

“I have to congratulate you on figuring it out though, even the opponents I fought against couldn’t figure out my spell. None of the girls here have either –”

She stopped short suddenly with a gasp and he released the smirk he had hidden behind his lips.

The black haired boy made his way forward, speaking deceptively casually.

“I’ve been observing. You like to drink the tea your girls make for you around 4PM in the afternoon. So I convinced one of the women I have good relations with to let me make the tea…”

His eyes darkened as he stared into her shocked gaze.

“…So I could put a little something in your tea.”

Then he smiled and spoke, at her frightened expression.

“Don’t worry, it’s not poison. I wanted to, but the men didn’t seem to have any on hand…”

He said contemplatively, his hand to his chin, as her eyes grew in realization.

“You…were pretending all along…”

Another burst of pleasure hit the brothel owner and she moaned and gripped the tabletop, her face flushed.

“Not bad. You have a strong will.”

He mocked her with the same words she had taunted him with.

“It’s a sex drug one of my customers used on me, so I know how effective it is. I stole it.”

He walked around her leisurely, a sly smile across his lips, his face hidden by his hair.

“Since you’re obsessed with putting strong people in helpless sexual pleasure, I thought you would like to experience it for yourself.”

He chuckled in amusement as she gave a groan in response.

“You...little brat….!”

He didn’t respond and moved again to face her, just inches away.

And then he declared, staring into the human’s eyes.

“I’m going to go find out why I was born.”

“…”

She stared at him and he continued, his eyes blank.

“I’ll ask one last time. Release your mind control so I can leave this place.”

She lifted her head and spoke with as stable a voice as possible, her taunting smirk on her lips.

“And if I don’t…?”

“I see. Goodbye.”

The boy said, whipped the gun out from behind his back, and shot the brothel owner in the heart.

A loud bang echoed in the air, and through the brothel.

The owner fell back onto the ground, blood spilling out from her body onto the kitchen floor.

* * *

_….I…didn’t notice his killing intent at all……_

_He hid his bloodlust perfectly, from the moment he stepped into the room…how…did he get one of the customers to train him…?_

_Or did he learn it himself through his willpower alone…?_

_A Nen genius…_

And as she looked into the cold eyes which held no emotion, the realization came to her.

_Everything…was planned…….by him._

The sudden change of his personality right after his first sexual session so that she would think he had been broken as she had said he would be.

The lessening of his hostility towards her to confirm her expectations.

The fear he had allowed himself to show to let her guard down.

The integration of himself into the girls’ family so they would help him.

The befriending and socializing with the long-time girls so they would like him and cover for him.

The pleasing of the customers so they would think him a harmless sex slave.

The sneaking up he would occasionally do on the girls and the men to practice his stealth.

And the time he must have spent behind the scenes with the girls making the tea.

With the reputation of himself as an innocent, pleasant child to fool everyone.

While he orchestrated and played to the circumstances of the place he had found himself in, in the shadows of the underworld.

Like a criminal mastermind none had realized was one until it was too late.

_…The world will come to fear this man._

The owner thought in her last moments of consciousness, dying in pain and the pleasure she forced upon the people in her place.

* * *

The black haired boy looked at the corpse emotionlessly.

_Humans are puppets._

He thought to himself as he saw the entire play he had staged behind the scenes come to fruition.

Everything happened exactly as he had planned.

But the play was not over yet.

There was a ruckus outside at the sound of the gunshot.

He had turned off the silencer so it could be heard.

Holding the gun like a seasoned killer, he made his way to the main hall where the entrance was.

“A-A gunshot!?”

“What’s happening?!”

“Do we have to fight?! I’ve been stuck in this place and haven’t fought for so long!!”

“You don’t have to fight.”

He said casually and everyone’s attention turned to him.

The black haired boy smiled.

“You don’t have to fight anymore. You’re all free.”

And before anyone could speak, he revealed the gun from behind his back.

“I’ve killed the owner. You’re free to go.”

The black haired boy said and ignoring the gasps, walked to the door and pulled it open.

And then he placed his foot beyond the threshold.

Chatter began to break out along with the incredulous expressions.

“How…?”

The sniper woman said and he shrugged.

“Her trick was mind control. It was never the door. She used some technique when you first arrive to make you think it’s impossible to leave this place. It breaks down your willpower. And then she uses some other technique to cement her words, that you’ll never be able to leave as long as your willpower isn’t strong enough to beat hers.”

The black haired boy said, holding up one finger.

“First, she puts the outcome she wants in her words. ‘You will not be able to leave this place.”

He said and the people who had not been able to leave the place shivered.

“It results in your willpower being broken. An outcome that has actually happened. And so she takes that outcome that happened and uses it as a condition.”

He paused.

“Before that, she uses some other technique on the door to make you not want to leave, or think you can’t leave, a temporary effect. It solidifies the concept of not being able to leave. And when you’re in that broken state of mind, she then carries out the second step.”

The black haired boy then held up another finger.

“ _It’s impossible for you to leave. Not until your will overcomes mine.”_

He quoted, a smirk spreading across his lips.

“’If it happened once, it can happen again’. It’s the power of possibility, even if that possibility was manipulated into existence. She took her desired outcome and paired it with the outcome that actually happened, and sets a condition. That if they can’t overcome the outcome that happened, their broken will, which resulted in them not being able to leave, then they will not be able to leave forever.”

The boy with dark eyes said, crossing one finger over the other.

“Simply put, if the happened outcome of broken willpower isn’t overcome, the desired outcome of not being able to leave stays. And the mind control is set.”

He said, closed his eyes then opened them again, staring at the humans before him.

“It’s a powerful power that has the ability to bend reality. Something supernatural.”

He exhaled as he thought back.

“I couldn’t figure out how to break free of her mind control. My willpower was strong enough. There must have been another condition.”

The black haired boy stated, his hand to his chin.

“So I just killed her.”

“Boy…”

The hunter woman whom had taught him how to make the tea said.

He smiled up at her as he clutched the gun in his hand.

“I said I would repay the favour back in full, right?”

Her eyes widened and he turned, keeping his expression hidden as he spoke.

“…take this as my gratitude for treating me like I was a human being.”

There was silence.

Then a loud shout sounded.

“Don’t fuck with me!”

It came from one of the customers, a man with a bald head and rowdy face.

“You bitches think you can just leave?! I already paid for a contract to fuck that woman for a month! It cost me a shit ton of money!”

He bellowed angrily and the men around him agreed with him.

“Yeah yeah, I’ve got a fucking contract with Girl B!”

“Mine is Girl C! Girl c-“

The last man was cut off as a kick hit his face, the force sending him crashing to the wall.

The woman who had fought in Heaven’s Arena lowered her foot and glared.

“Suck it up, shitheads! We’re free now thanks to our boy and we won’t listen to what you say!”

A few of the men backed away but others seemed enraged.

“Acting cocky, woman? I’ll let you know I’m from the mafia, first I’ll kill the little brat –“

He turned, to see a gun pointed towards him from the mafia man.

He was about to dodge, but a force hit him.

A bang sounded, but he didn’t feel anything.

"..."

A figure had shielded him, and he watched as blood dripped to the floor from above him.

“…Why?”

For the first time in a long while, he felt shock.

This had not been in his plan.

He had even foreseen to the extent that there was the risk one of the men would attack him.

But not that someone would dive in to protect him.

_Why did she protect me?_

The boy who had never been shown basic human care before he was stolen away, could not understand the woman’s action of human care and love.

Two decades later, another woman would go against his expectations and sacrifice her life so he could live.

Her actions would be incomprehensible to him as well, even as he would set out on a journey alone to find himself.

The Hunter woman smiled at him as blood dripped from her head onto his shirt.

“...I’ll live...as a Hunter, I experienced more serious injuries than this…”

He just stared, speechless and unable to form words.

“Argh –!”

“You…!”

There was a commotion again, it seemed the women had taken advantage of the moment and rounded attacks on the men.

“You gross men who made use of us as sex slaves, how’d you like our strength now huh!”

“You’d even lust and prey on a child! Taking a kid’s virginity, disgusting!”

“Now that the owner’s mind control is broken, we’ll give you a taste of our real strength.”

The men looked shocked at the women who had been docile suddenly attacking and taking them out like trained fighters.

They tried to fight back, those with guns shooting at them, but the women who were no longer prostitutes had the element of surprise.

They had been chosen by the owner for her brothel because of their strength which the men and her had broken down –

\- But their strength had revived as they saw the freedom they thought was impossible in sight.

The fighter woman weaved in and out of the crowd like a wild dance, knocking out the men with guns one after another.

The sniper woman had grabbed several utensils from the kitchen and threw them with such force that the men collapsed one after another like dominoes.

Another woman scaled the stair railings, navigating the fight like an acrobat as she dived in and out, breaking the arms, ribs of several men who cried out in pain.

The boy stared.

Each woman had her own style of combat.

They had transformed from the docile, harmonious people they had been into merciless beasts fighting for freedom.

They were nothing like the people he had manipulated into feeling sympathy for him.

_Even if they are puppets_

_They exceeded my expectations_

_Humans are…_

_…truly fascinating_

He wanted to stay and watch the dazzling sight of the puppets ripping free from their strings, but his freedom was waiting for him beyond the door.

He briefly wondered how the hunter woman who had protected him would have fought, as he crawled out from under her.

“Go!”

She encouraged him with a hard look on her bloodied face.

Then she smiled, reminiscent of the smile she had given him in the kitchen.

“Let us adults handle this.”

She said even as she coughed blood out onto her hand, the blood pooling around her.

He didn’t stay to watch if she lived or died.

He gave the first person who had protected him one last look then ran to the door.

“Boy!”

A woman called out to him, it sounded like the sniper woman.

“What’s your name?!”

"..."

The black haired boy paused only for a moment at the threshold, a smile spreading across his lips.

“…I’ll find out in the future.”

He said as he grabbed the bandage from his forehead and threw it away, uncovering the mark that had been seen as the devil’s.

And then he ran beyond the door, into his new world of freedom.

**Author's Note:**

> Humans are a mirror to each other, in general they reflect what is given to them.
> 
> So I figured Chrollo was treated in a similar way as he treated the Kurta massacre and the value of the Kurta eyes and human lives. 
> 
> The Kurta eyes were wanted because they were beautiful and as a treasure/merchandise, and the only thing I could think of that treated humans as merchandise was, well, the sex trade. Organ trafficking as well, but not because organs are pretty lol. 
> 
> The Kurta eyes were wanted because of their beauty, despite the Kurta people being called devils. The fact that the massacre could be done in the first place, because the eyes were worth so much, reflected human greed and cruelty.
> 
> And this was actually inspired by a story with Kurapika and Chrollo I wrote, titled Choice. So I wanted to include a parallel. 
> 
> HunterxHunter has always been about strategy rather than power, so the story showed that as well.
> 
> This story will have 2 parts. Like the Hisoka Origin Story in canon.
> 
> Since Hisoka is so drawn to Chrollo, well birds of a feather flock together. Hisoka was said by Machi when she left after healing his arms after his fight with Kastro, that he doesn’t talk about the past. He’s his own man, he doesn’t associate with others, and he thinks he’s the strongest. 
> 
> And so Chrollo is likely similar in that aspect of treating the past, and his view on himself.
> 
> Happy New Year, I’m happy I finished this on time! 
> 
> May we see Chrollo Lucilfer in HunterxHunter in the manga this year~


End file.
